Open end one-direction ratchet wrench

ABSTRACT

An open end ratchet wrench wherein turning of said wrench on a nut, pipe, tube or bar in one direction forces a ratchet to turn the wrench in one direction only.

United States Patent Hertelendy et al.

[ Dec. 23, 1975 OPEN END ONE-DIRECTION RATCHET WRENCH Inventors:Nicholas L. Hertelendy; Nicholas A.

Hertelendy, both of PO. Box .104, Folsom, Calif. 95630 Filed: May 1,1975 Appl. No.: 573,469

Related US. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 356,938, May 3, 1973.

US. Cl 81/58.2; 81/60 Int. Cl. B2513 13/46 Field of Search 81/58.2, 60,63

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,306,228 12/1942 Shaw .e8l/58.2 X 2,712,256 7/1955 Fish 81/58.2

Primary Examiner-Harold D. Whitehead Assistant Examiner-James G. SmithAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Ernest L. Brown ABSTRACT An open end ratchetwrench wherein turning of said wrench on a nut, pipe, tube or bar in onedirection forces a ratchet to turn the wrench in one direction only.

2 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of33,927,582

U.S. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,927,582

US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,927,582

OPEN END ONE-DIRECTION RATCHET WRENCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisis a division of U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 356,938, filed May 3,1973 by the same inventors for OPEN END ONE-DIRECTTON WRENCH.

Various open-ended wrenches, some ratcheted, have been invented.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,387,866, C. E. Reed, had pivoted grippingmembers tightened onto a pipe by a ram.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,306,228, H. A. Shaw, taught an openended ratchet wrenchparticularly for use on bicycle spokes.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,259, H. 1. Cowell, taught a plurality of grippingmembers, each separately springbiased outward in a directionsubstantially tangential to the torqued item. The wrench engaged whenturned in one direction and disengaged when turned in the otherdirection.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,319, J. W. Bloom, used spheres as gripping memberswhich are power-oscillated between a radially inward gripping positionand a radially outward nongripping position. The balls are forcedoutward, the wrench head is then torqued, and the balls are thenretracted radially outward. The head is then indexed to the nextposition.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,327, C. H. McCreary, teaches a closed wrench havingeccentric pivoted gripping elementw which grip and transmit torque whenthe frame is turned in one direction and which is dis-engaged orfree-running when the frame is turned in the other direction.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,213, which issued to R. Anati, teaches anotherclosed wrench having pivoted members which are guided by guides toengage a nut, pipe, or shaft when turned in one direction and todisengage when turned in the other direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Our invention is a new kind ofratchet wrench which unites the advantages of a ratchet wrench and anopenend wrench. It is an open-end ratchet wrench.

This invention is a wrench which has one open side large enough that itcan be slipped from the side onto a nut or over a pipe, tube or bar, andit has a ratchet mechanism which makes the tightening or loosening ofthe nut fast and easy.

It is therefore an object of this invention to apply a torque to anobject in one rotation direction.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a mechanismwhich delivers torque when turned in one direction and which slips whenturned in the other direction.

It is still a more specific object of this invention to provide anopen-ended one-direction wrench.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects will become apparentfrom the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is'a partial right-side view, partly in section, of a firstembodiment of the invention, in which the outside shell of the wrench isomitted.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 in which thecoverplate of the wrench is omitted.

FIG. 3 is a left-side view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 in whichthe outside shell of the wrench is omitted.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7.

FIG. 4 is a view, partly in section, of the second embodiment of theinvention in engaged, driving position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, taken at 5-5 in FIG. 4, with the driven nutomitted.

FIG. 6 is a view, similar to' FIG. 4, but with the wrench disengagedfrom the nut.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view, taken at 77 in FIG. 4.

A third embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 is a view of the third embodiment of the invention with thegripping members in driving position.

FIG. 9 is a view of the third embodiment of the invention with thegripping members disengaged.

FIG. 10 shows a modification of the wrench of FIGS. 4-7 for use as apipe wrench.

FIG. 11 is a view of a fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is s fifth embodiment of the invention modified to accomodate apipe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The first embodiment of FIGS. l-3comprises an arm 5 with the ratcheting mechanism 11 and 12, and theexchangable socket member 1, which is broached through to the size ofthe nut 2. The socket member 1 has a longitudinal slit or opening 3 wideenough, that the pipe, tube or rod 4 can slip through it. The arm 5 hason the end a cylindrical opening or socket 6, into which the socketmember fits. On the end of the cylindrical wall or socket 6 is alongitudinal slit 7 or opening of about the same size as the slit oropening 3 on the socket member 1. The socket member 1 will be pushedinto the opening or socket 6 so that the slits or openings 3 and 7 arelined up. The socket member 1 has a groove 8 on its outer periphery,which is engaged with spring loaded retainers 9 (only one is shown). Theretainers 9 keep the socket member 1 from falling out of the socket 6.The upper face of the socket member 1 has a plurality of radial slits10, into which the ratchets l1 and 12 extend. They are kept engaged withthe socket by the springs 13 and 14 respectively. To tighten the nut 2the arm 5 will be turned clockwise (FIG. 2) around the nut. The dog 111of the ratchet 11 is pulling and the end of the leaf spring ratchet 12is pushing the socket member 1 and with it the nut 2 clockwise. Byturning the arm 5 counterclockwise, the ratchets 11 and 12 disengagefrom the socket member 1, which will stand still, and the arm 5 with theratchets 11 and 12 move alone until the arm 5 is turned again clockwise.During the tightening of the nut 2 the socket member 1 is indexedrelative to the arm 5 and socket 6. So the ratchet 11 eventually comesover the slit 3 and is disengaged. The ratchet l2 alone then pushes thesocket member 1 with the nut 2. The ratchets 1'1 and 12 are so far apartthat before the ratchet 12 comes over the slit 3 and disengages, theratchet 11 is already engaged again, and it alone will pull the socketmember 1 with the nut 2. The ratchet mechanism is covered with acoverplate 15. To remove a nut with this ratchet wrench one has to turnthe tool upside down. Then it engages the torqued item when it is turnedcounterclockwise, and it disengages when turned clockwise.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. l3 is adapted to engage a hexagon-shapednut whose outer surfaces are 120 apart. The wrench, therefore, hasgripping surfaces extending from one face to the other of the socketmember 1 to match the faces of the hexagon shaped nut. For example, theface 113 is 120 from the face 115. That is, the angle 117 is l20.

When the arm 5 is turned in the direction of the arrow 119, the dog 111of the ratchet 11 pulls on the face 121 while the end 123 of the ratchet12 pushes against the face 123.

When the arm 5 is turned opposite to the arrow 119, the dog face 127rides over the face 129, and the surface 131 rides over the surface 113,whereby the arm 5 and socket 6 turns relative to the socket member 1.

A second embodiment of the wrench of this invention is shown in FIGS.4-7.

The embodiment of FIGS. 4-7 comprises an outer body or wrench frame 200,with the larger end of the frame partly open at 202 to receive an item 2to be torqued. The cage 16 fits into a substantially cylindrical openingin the region of 202 of the body 200, the cage being substantiallycircularly cylindrical. The cage has slots 30 apart. In every slot is asliding member 17, which has a shoulder 206 on one end to prevent itfrom falling out of the slots 208. Two sideplates 18 hold the assemblytogether. The inside periphery of the opening 210 in the outer body 15has cam surfaces 220, the surfaces 220 being smooth surfaces which aresubstantially 30 apart for grasping a hexagonal nut. The sliding members17 are cam followers which ride by their end surfaces 222 on the camsurfaces 220. The surfaces 220, and hence the gauge of the serrationmatch the sliding members 17. The cage 16 can turn relative to the outerbody 15 about to and is biased by light springs, for example, by leaf orcantilevered springs 19 toward its position where the sliders 17 areforced radially inward by the cam surfaces 222.

In the nut-engaging position shown on FIG. 4, with torque applied asshown by arrow 225, the outer body 200 presses against the slidingmembers 17 at the cam interface 220, 222. Due to the radical componentof the face 222, the members 17 are pressed against the nut 2. When thehandle is turned in the direction shown by arrow 225, the whole assemblywith the nut 2 turns. Turning the handle in the direction shown by thearrow 227, the outer body or frame 200 moves alone till the deepcavities 250 are aligned with the sliding members 17. By turning thewhole assembly further, the sliding members 17 will be pushed by thecorners of the nut 2 into the cavities 250 and a new gnp can be taken.The tool ratchets directly on the nut. It is an open-end ratchet wrench.The opening 202 of this tool is so big, that it can be slipped from theside onto the nut 2 as an open-ended wrench.

Thus, the embodiment of FIGS. 4-7 uses a cage fitting into the open endof a crescent-like wrench. In a substantially cylindrical opening of thewrench fits a substantially cylindrical cage member. The opening in theframe is formed with a plurality of cam surfaces on its inner periphery,giving the general impression of a saw-toothed surfaces. However, eachof the cam-surfaces is precisely formed and positioned to match camfollowers which are attached to the cage member. Slots are formed in thecage member, and into those slots are positioned the cam followers. Thecam followers are also the grasping members for the wrench, and theradial position of the grasping members depends upon the relativecircumferential position of the wrench body and the cage member.Typically, a cantilevered spring is positioned substantially along thehandle of the wrench, and it is attached to the cage member, and itbiases the cage member relative to the frame into a position where thecam follower grasping members are forced by the cam surfaces radiallyinward toward the member to be torqued. Turning of the wrench in onedirection causes the grasping members to be pushed into solid contactwith the item to be torqued. Turning of the wrench in the otherdirection causes the cage and wren ch body to move relative to eachother toward a position where the grasping members can move radiallyoutward and slip over the surface of the torqued item.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown on FIGS. 8 and 9. Bothfigures are top-views with removed coverplate to show the grippingmembers in FIG. 8 in driving (gripping) position, and in FIG. 9 inresetting position.

On the end of the tool 20 is a substantially cylindrical head 21 with asubstantially cylindrical hole 300, and it has an opening 302 on the endof it big enough that the wrench can be slipped from the side onto thenut 2. The diameter of the hole 300 is slightly bigger than the diagonaldistance between opposite comers of the nut 2. On the inside of the head21 there are substantially identically formed cavities 22 broached 30apart. In the cavities 22 are little tumable elements 23 which turnaround their shafts 24 which, in turn, are embedded in the sidecoverplates (not shown). The elements 23 are biased by light springs(not shown) about the shafts 24 toward the position shown in FIG. 8. Theelements 23 intrude into the central opening of the tool, and everysecond one of them lies against a flat of the hexagonal nut 2. Turningthe tool in the direction of the arrow 305 presses the elements 23against the flats of the nut 2 whereby the nut is turned with the handle20. Turning the tool 20 in the direction of arrow 310 causes theelements 23 to disengage and to be pushed by the corners of the nut 2into the cavities 22.

To get the nut off, the tool is turned around it length axis. Theelements 23 then engage with the nut by turning the toolcounter-clockwise and disengage by turning the tool clockwise.

The wrenches which are shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 are easily modifiedfor gripping and tightening threaded piping.

FIG. 10 shows a pipe-wrench with sliding members similar to the wrenchin FIG. 4. The pipe-wrench comprises the outer body 25, with the handlepartly broken away, the cage 26, which has substantially equally spacedslots. In every slot'is a sliding member 27, which has a shoulder toprevent it from falling out. Two sideplates (not shown) hold theassembly together. The inside of the outer body 25 has as manysubstantially identical cavities as there are sliding members. The cage26 can turn slightly relative to the outer body 25 and is biased bylight springs, such as cantilevered springs 28, toward its extremecounterclock position. In this position the outer body 25 holds thesliding members 27 pressing against the pipe 29. The ratchetingpipe-wrench of FIG. 10 operates in a fashion similar to the ratchetwrench shown and described in connection with FIG. 4.

FIG. 11 teaches the use of balls or rollers 30 as grip ping members.FIG. 11 teaches an open-ended crescent-type wrench 400 which has asubstantially circularly cylindrical opening 402 on one end and anopened portion for receiving a pipe 29 to be torqued. A substantiallycircular U-shaped cage member 410 is positioned within the opening 402.A plurality of balls or rollers 30 are positioned within slots 412 inthe cage 410. In the wall of the opening 402 are a plurality of recesses415, equal in number to the number of balls or rollers 30. The recesses415 have an inclined ramp on one side thereof. The ramp is shownexaggerated at 420. As the wrench is turned in the direction of thearrow 430, the spring 28 and the friction between'the balls or rollersand the wrench causes the balls 30 to walk up the incline 420 and totighten on the pipe 29. When the wrench is turned the other way,friction between the balls or rollers 30 and the pipe 29 causes theballs or rollers to move into position where they can return into thecavities 415, loosening the pipe 29.

FIG. 12 shows a ratcheting pipe-wrench, which is substantially identicalin structure and operation to the ratchet wrench shown and described inconnection with FIG. 8. On the end of the tool 31 is a cylindrical head32 with a cylindrical hole slightly bigger than the pipe 29 and anopening big enough that it can be slipped from the side onto the pipe29. On the inside of the head 32 there are substantially identical andsubstantially equally spaced cavities 33. In this cavities are littleturnable gripping elements 34, which are biased by light springs (notshown) toward a position shown in FIG. 12 so that they intrude into thecentral opening of the wrench and press against the pipe 29. Turning thetool in the direction of arrow 500 causes turnable gripping elements 34to wedge between the pipe 29 and the wrench, turning the wrenchcounter-clockwise the gripping elements 34 recede into the cavities andrelease the pipe, so a new grip can be taken. The difference between thewrench of FIG. 12 and that of FIG. 8 is that the faces 505 of FIG. 12match the contour of 6 pipe 29 while the faces 304 of FIG. 8 match thesurface 307 of the hex nut 2.

While the invention has been described in connection with present,preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that thisdescription is illustrative only and not intended to limit theinvention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A wrench comprising:

a wrench handle having a socket member on at least one end thereof tosurround an item to be torqued;

a gripping member within said socket member to turn with said handle inone direction of rotation and to index relative to said handle in theother direction of rotation of said handle;

said gripping member having circumferentially positioned radiallydirected notches thereon forming ratchet teeth;

a pair of diametrically positioned ratchet pawls engaging said notches,and positioned to block relative rotation in one direction between saidgripping member and said handle while allowing relative rotation in theother direction between said gripping member and said handle;

said socket member and said gripping member each having an opening intheir peripheries to receive an item to be torqued;

said gripping member having an indentation around its outer periphery;

a substantially radially directed member, spring biased and positionedadjacent said indentation within said handle to hold said grippingmember in position.

2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which the faces of said grippingmember are positioned substantially apart.

1. A wrench comprising: a wrench handle having a socket member on atleast one end thereof to surround an item to be torqued; a grippingmember within said socket member to turn with said handle in onedirection of rotation and to index relative to said handle in the otherdirection of rotation of said handle; said gripping member havingcircumferentially positioned radially directed notches thereon formingratchet teeth; a pair of diametrically positioned ratchet pawls engagingsaid notches, and positioned to block relative rotation in one directionbetween said gripping member and said handle while allowing relativerotation in the other direction between said gripping member and saidhandle; said socket member and said gripping member each having anopening in their peripheries to receive an item to be torqued; saidgripping member having an indentation around its outer periphery; asubstantially radially directed member, spring biased and positionedadjacent said indentation within said handle to hold said grippingmember in position.
 2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which thefaces of said gripping member are positioned substantially 120* apart.